Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The name of the cat is "Tama-chan". Once the upbeat opening theme song starts playing, the cat makes a run for the TV. Tama-chan politely sits and watches the screen. But once the song goes into the chorus and the screen shows the Sanriku coastline, the cat suddenly jumps and attacks the TV! It seems the cat is concerned about the bird flying in that scene.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

According to Kenzo Umeda's friend:"Ume-chan sent me a text saying, 'There's nothing we fear when we're together. We're seriously talking about getting married', and it seems like he's seriously considering marrying her. He's left his old place and has been living with Yaguchi since June. They're seriously considering to 'officially move in together', and it'll only be a matter of time before they get married. Ume-chan will also return to work soon."

Showbiz insider:"Even if Yaguchi comes back to showbiz now, she'd still be labeled as 'the woman who had an affair', which won't rebuild her image at all. But if she marries Umeda and says, 'I'm actually serious with him', it will make it seem like she pushed through with her love, even if it started out the 'wrong way'."

(Summary)* A showbiz representative comments: "There were talks that they were supposed to go on a nation-wide tour in July. The members themselves were talking enthusiastically last May saying, 'We want to see you again at our concert', and, 'Please wait for us'. The schedule was even released in one of their fan pages but was immediately taken down... Now there are no indications of them doing concerts and there's no talk of the 5 coming together anytime soon".

* "Their main program ended by the end of last year, and there are still no plans to replace the show. Their last tour was February of last year's 'KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2012 CHAIN'. Nakamaru will be turning 30 in September, and will eventually have to graduate from the magazines Poporo and myojo. These magazines seem to have set a limit of 30 years old for these Johnny's idols."

* "Vice President Julie Kitagawa, who's also handling KAT-TUN affairs, is treating Kamenashi well, but apparently doesn't hold special feelings towards the group itself. Some people are even saying that she thinks the group is pulling Kamenashi down." -showbiz executive

* "There was also a time when there were talks of letting Kamenashi go solo. They're saying that KAT-TUN will take the same path as V6 who have not officially disbanded are are still releasing singles every once in a while. "

* Kazuya Kamenashi's Ore Ore is doing extremely well, and he will also be starring in a drama in October.

* Yuichi Nakamaru's a reporter for informational program Shuuichi and has had numerous drama projects.

* Other members have some jobs every once in a while, but the group doesn't have their own program and has no tour scheduled.

According to the Tokyo Fire Department, numerous fans in attendance started complaining about their health at around 8:30 pm, and about 100 people required medical attention at around 9:30 pm.
NEWS' concert was cancelled at around 7:30 pm due to the heavy rains on Tokyo's Chichibunomiya Rugby Grounds.
Source: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20130727-00000871-yom-soci

"Regardless of whether GMT47 (Amachan idol group) imitated AKB or not, there really seems to be some talk of making Nounen join AKB. AKB also needs Nounen." -Showbiz pro representative

"With Shinoda and the others graduating, AKB will definitely lose their might. There's also a rumor that Yuko Oshima will be quitting by the end of the year. If that happens, AKB will just collapse. Rino Sashihara may have placed first, but she'll never be able to fill that gap. There's already some talk that Nounen has been decided to become the 'Special Center'." (same as above)

Sunday, July 28, 2013

37 for the 3 of them combined--- That's the number of companies the 3 girls from Oscar Promotions, namely Aya Ueto, Emi Takei, and Ayame Gouriki, are endorsing based on the 1st half of 2013's commercial appearance ranking.

Emi Takei is endorsing for 15 companies, and ranks 1st among women, Gouriki endorses for 12 companies and sits at 3rd, while Ueto has 10 companies and is at the 5th spot. Another notable personality in the list is Rola, who ranked 14th last year and is now sharing the 3rd spot with Gouriki.
Last year, Tomomi Itano (8th this year) and Mariko Shinoda (2nd) were both 1st placers, while AKB48 dominated the list up to the 6th spot.
It's understandable that the AKB girls are popular, but what's with these Oscar girls?

A showbiz insider reports:"Since both Emi Takei and Ayame Gouriki's dramas haven't been doing well, we can analyze that these 2 don't have passionate fans. Oscar is originally a modelling agency who mostly focuses on women. Their talents are not brought up like idols who always have to be conscious of the eyes of men, but as women who appeal to other women through commercials. Both Takei and Gouriki show off their pleasantness with their natural-looking make up. The agency is also pretty strict on their personal lives, as if having this silent understanding with its talents, forbidding them to have any romantic relationships until they reach 25."
Their earnings from commercials aren't that high too."Ueto earns 30~40 million per commercial. Takei and Gouriki only earn less than half of that. There's this sense of getting value for money, especially when you think about their presence in society."

Meisa comments:"Almost all the books I have are for learning English. Even the ones behind these books are English learning materials.""There's no point in just reading these once and be satisfied with it. It just makes you feel like you finished reading them for no reason. It's better to review the books that I have instead of searching for new ones! Yup, that's what I'll do."

The movie adaptation of the novel Eien no Zero will be shown on December 21.
Actors Junichi Okada, Haruma Miura, Mao Inoue, director Takashi Yamazaki, and novelist Naoki Hyakuta attended the completion press-con on July 22. Okada shaved his head for the role of Miyabe, a Zero fighter plane pilot.
When Okada was asked about going bald:"I already knew that I had to go bald the moment they let me play the role of Miyabe, so there's really nothing much to say about it... But since everyone's been asking me about it, maybe you guys can say that this is how I express my spirit."

Actor Yuta Hiraoka (28) is reportedly in a serious relationship with model Eri Oishi (19). According to various sources, the two met early last year and started dating soon afterwards. In these 1 and a half years, eyewitness reports say that Oishi has been spotted frequenting Hiraoka's unit, and that the two have been going out on drives and dates. A representative even comments: "They're dating with the premise of getting married".

Hiraoka used to date MEG (32) and Sowelu (30).

Hiraoka's agency comments, "We leave these private matters to him", while Oishi's agency says, "We heard that he's one of her close friends".

Johnny Kitagawa gave his comments concerning Jin Akanishi, whose new single will be released in August."Along with his responsibilities as a parent to his daughter, he should be taking responsibility for all of his actions.""He's unique. But he should do things properly (and succeed) in Japan first before thinking of going overseas."

女性自身 8/6号(7/23(火)発売)
同誌が取材した「矢口の知人」によると、矢口は復帰について
「完全にほとぼりが冷めてからにしたい」「5年間は復帰しなくてもいい」
と漏らしているという。
モーニング娘。時代からの貯金が1億円あり、それを切り崩していけば
5年間は何もしなくても暮らせるというのだ。Josei Jishin August 6 issue (7/23)According to Yaguchi's acquaintance:"She'll make her comeback once the issue dies down. She won't come back in the next 5 years."She apparently has \100 million in savings.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Go Morita attended a presscon for the stage play Natagirimaru together with the other cast members. Morita came out sporting a hairstyle which was shorter on the sides. The press asked if this was for his character role, to which he replied:"I used to sport a bob-cut, but I couldn't memorize my lines at all. I then thought I should change something, so I settled for the sides because there was nothing else."

Morita was then asked what the reactions of the other V6 members were:"The 6 of us haven't had any activities recently, and we haven't been seeing each other. All of us are just doing things by ourselves and--", where his co-star in the play Katsuhisa Namase cut in and said, "Are you fine with that?"

http://ch-2.biz/img/news_819.jpg
Hints:
"Mr. Z, member of a Popular Rock Group"
- One of the main members of a popular rock group who represents the 90s
- Had a concert at Tokyo Dome and recorded million sellers
- Also doing solo work
- Married, but is living seperately due to circumstances
- Has been taking drugs for over ten years
- Has been going to DARC to undergo rehab for 5 years now
- Treated as top secret within DARC (Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Center - US)
- Also receiving private treatment in his/her US vacation house

MATSU (38) of EXILE announced his engagement on the 22nd of July. His fiancée is a 28-year-old commoner, and they have been going steady for 7 years. They met right before EXILE started their 2nd chapter in 2006.

MATSU suffered from a chronic disease, and the symptoms started showing on his eyes as the group entered their 2nd chapter.

"This woman has always been there to support me during those tough times."
As yet, there's still no word as to when they will officially tie the knot.

(Related post HERE)
According to Shuukan Josei, Shunsuke Kazama's wife is apparently Kazuna Kawamura, a former talent who was previously linked with Ken Miyake of V6.

The 2 met on the set of Claudia which was produced by the theater group Chikyuu Gorgeous in 2004. Claudia was staged from 2004~2005 and was a huge turning point in Kazama's showbiz career.

Kawamura was formerly an assistant or "Won-girl" (Wonderful Girls)" in Wonderful, a late night program shown on TBS. She was part of the program from 2001.
She's focused mainly on stage acting in recent years as a member of the Benibara Usagi Troupe.

Shuukan Josei also revealed that Kawamura was found to have had a relationship with Ken Miyake in June of 2010. Miyake lost his mother who raised him singlehandedly at that time, but Kawamura was apparently the one who was supporting him through those difficult times. The magazine included a picture of the two leaving Miyake's apartment standing closely to each other two days after his mother's funeral.

Both parties denied the reports at that time. Shuukan Josei asked Kawamura's agency about Kazama. The agency responded:"I think it was around the beginning of spring this year when she requested, 'I'm going to get married so please release me from my contract'. We knew that she was in a relationship, but we only recently found out about her plans to get married."
When asked about Miyake: "We heard that he's one of her friends."

Shuukan Josei also asked Kawamura's father; Keiji Takasugi who is the president of BMI."No, don't ask me anything about that. Please direct all your questions at Johnny's. That's our deal."
About Kazama: "Of course I've met him. He's a splendid man. And he was able to get married because he's splendid. (About the ceremony) That's their issue, and I have not received any word concerning that."

Aya Matsuura appeared last July 14 at the fan event "Maniac Live". It was her first time to stand on a stage after 1 and a half years. People described her as "old", "detriorated", and "looks like a granny" on the Internet during her last appearances on TV.

The media were not present at this fan event where she said onstage, "People have been writing that I've gotten fat, but that isn't the case. I don't recall declaring that I've graduated from being an idol. I can still do it".

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Japanese National Football Team member and player for the Bundesliga's Schalke04 Atsuto Uchida was a guest on July 20's Arashi ni shiyagare. In the gossip corner, Uchida was introduced to be "very fickle with his taste in women". He said that he used to like Yuko Takeuchi and Namie Amuro but that he currently likes Maki Horikita. Uchida and Horikita were together once for a radio program and Uchida comments: "She was really beautiful. She was like a doll".

"Sashihara's one of the nasty looking ones", and Hiroiki Ariyoshi even said, "We must be in the era of ugly girls. The people whom women want to root for will be the ones becoming popular.

Her public image has become "ugly", and one of her selling points have become "she can easily be pushed around".

But more and more people have started seeing her in a different light. Even the anti-Sashihara manga artist Yoshinori Kobayashi wrote on his blog, "I'm aware that people, not only her wotas, but even some of my editors have been thinking that Sahihara's actually starting to look cute. It kind of even eliminates her reason for existence".

Even on 2channel and Twitter, various comments have been made:"Hm? Sashihara's actually pretty cute.""What should I do? I'm starting to think that Sashihara is cute.""Don't you think Sashihara's actually cute??????""The reason why she ranked 1st is because she's actually cute."

Back in 1996, the Tunnels hosted the popular program Shinshun Kakushigei Taikai (Fuji) and Mickey Mouse was the guest on live TV.
Ishibashi suddenly approached Mickey Mouse and said:"But what's inside of you is just a sweaty old man, right?",
and even tried to remove the head. This caused panic in the studio as the program went for a commercial break.

One of the program staff says:"It wouldn't have escalated if he apologized then and there, but there was an executive from Oriental Land who happened to see the broadcast and called our station directly, saying furiously:'I will never allow such an impolite person to ever appear beside a Disney character ever again!''Make him apologize right now!'The producers dealt with the situation on the spot, but Ishibashi has been banned from appearing with Disney characters ever since."

Sunday, July 21, 2013

TV station staff: "Gou Ayano (31), who parted with Erika Toda (24) in April, is rumored to be getting close to Aragaki these days. We heard that Aragaki is totally Ayano's type. The two looked really friendly and at ease with each other on the set of their drama Soratobu Kouhoushitsu."

A video clip of Jin Akanishi's latest single is now being shown on Warner Music Japan's official page."Hey What's Up?" is his first single in 1 year and 5 months. Jin Akanishi wrote the lyrics and composed the song himself, with the themes "summer", "party", and "Tokyo" in mind. the concept of the video is "the whole of Tokyo will turn into a party".The video is directed by Kenji Maruyama. The director's other works include music videos of AKB48, SKE48, and Nogizaka 48.